Foreword

WE’LL KNOW IT when we see it. This line has been used by teachers on the lookout for a good paper, by friends trying to find the right gift, and by followers in search of good leaders. Most of us know intuitively what good leaders look, talk, and feel like. They inspire us with their vision. They motivate us with their call to action. They care for us by their words and deeds. They develop us by their confidence. They relate to us through their values.

Yet leaders don’t just magically succeed. They need to combine certain foundational elements with the passion and discipline of continuous improvement. Yes, they need the building block skills, but they also need to keep learning, growing, and developing. That’s the formula for success, and in this book, Steve Arneson provides a fascinating roadmap for leadership self-development, one that leaders at all levels can follow to improve their performance.

But what is it that leaders need to develop? In our work, we have synthesized and integrated the content of what effective leaders must know and do. We have identified five basic rules leaders must follow:

Rule 1: Shape the Future. Leaders who shape the future answer the question, “Where are we going?” And they make sure that those around them understand the direction as well. Strategists figure out where the organization needs to go to succeed, test their ideas pragmatically against current resources (money, people, organizational capabilities), and work with others to figure out how to get to the desired future. The rules for Strategists are about creating, defining, and delivering principles of what is possible.

Rule 2: Make Things Happen. Leaders who make things happen focus on the question, “How will we make sure we get there?” Executors translate strategy into action and put the systems in place for others to do the same. They understand how to make change happen, assign accountability, make key decisions, and delegate responsibility to others, all while ensuring teams work well together and keeping promises to multiple stakeholders. The rules for Executors revolve around the discipline for getting things done and the technical expertise for getting them done right.

Rule 3: Engage Today’s Talent. Leaders who optimize talent answer the question, “Who goes with us on our business journey?” Talent Managers know how to identify, build, and engage talent to get results. They identify the skills required, recruit and engage talent, communicate extensively, and ensure that employees give their best effort. Talent Managers generate intense personal, professional, and organizational loyalty. The rules for Talent Managers center on resolutions to help people develop professionally for the good of the organization.

Rule 4: Build the Next Generation. Leaders who mold the future talent pool answer the question, “Who stays and sustains the organization for the next generation?” Talent Managers ensure short-term results through people, whereas Human Capital Developers ensure the organization has the long-term competencies required for future strategic success, thus ensuring the organization outlives any single individual. Just as good parents invest in helping their children succeed, Human Capital Developers help future leaders to be successful. Throughout the organization, they build a workforce plan focused on future talent, understand how to develop that talent, and help employees envision their future careers within the company. Human Capital Developers install rules that demonstrate a pledge to building the next generation of talent.

Rule 5: Invest in Yourself. At the heart of the Leadership Code—literally and figuratively—is Personal Proficiency. Effective leaders cannot be reduced to what they know or what they do. Leaders are learners, drawing on lessons from successes, failures, assignments, books, classes, people, and life experiences. Passionate about their beliefs and interests, good leaders spend enormous personal energy and attention on what matters to them. Effective leaders inspire loyalty and goodwill in others because they act with integrity and trust. Decisive and impassioned, they are capable of bold and courageous moves. Confident in their ability to deal with situations, they can tolerate ambiguity. Through our work, we have determined that all leaders must excel in Personal Proficiency. Without the foundation of trust and credibility, leaders cannot ask others to follow them.

The Process of Becoming an Effective Leader

If these five rules are the content of what leaders must know and do, what Steve Arneson does in this outstanding book is to lay out the process of becoming an effective leader. There is a knowing-doing gap that sometimes keeps leaders from fulfilling their aspirations. Turning what we know about effective leadership into what leaders really do requires insight into how to make things happen and the discipline to actually do it. That’s the wonderful thing about this book; it shows you how to make positive changes in your leadership style and behaviors.

This book offers fifty practical and realistic insights into the process of becoming a more effective leader. The insights are byte-size, digestible, and doable. They give any leader who aspires to be better a concrete place to start in making personal improvements. Let me offer some tips for using the insights in this book to help you become a better leader.

1. Have a mindset and commitment to learning. Leaders at all levels need to improve. One of the key predictors of any leader is the ability to learn. Learning means that the past informs the present, that the present is not constrained by the past, and that the future may differ from the present. Leaders as learners reflect, ask questions, experiment, and improve. They constantly ask questions such as:

a. What worked and what did not work in the recent leadership episode?

b. What did I do and how was it received by those I was leading?

c. How can I be better?

Read this book with a mindset and commitment to learn. Each chapter is an action item you might use to enhance your leadership capability.

2. Do an honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses. The assessment in the beginning of the book provides a lens to determine where you are strong and weak as a leader. We build on our strengths, but we have to neutralize our weaknesses. And, we have to build on our strengths that strengthen others. This book does not need to be read in a linear way. After taking the test, jump to a chapter that focuses on your strength. Ask yourself, “How can I use this strength to strengthen someone else?” Or, jump to a chapter that addresses a weakness and ask, “How can I improve on this weakness?”

3. Start with small successes. Someone made the statement, “By the inch it’s a cinch, by the yard it’s hard.” Trite, but true. Improving leadership does not come by leaps and bounds, grand epiphanies that transform the world, but by small and cumulative actions that build leadership a brick at a time. This book is probably best used (not just read) by reading a chapter and implementing its techniques. See how the ideas work in your daily routine. See how others respond to you when you do the things Steve suggests. Then, repeat the procedure for the next chapter.

4. See yourself through the eyes of others. Leaders matter, but leadership matters more. Leaders are individuals who set visions, execute for results, and organize resources. Leadership exists when leaders develop the next generation. Like good parenting, leaders have to nurture and invest in others. As a leader, help those you are working with so that they can someday replace and surpass you. Use this book to identify some of the areas where they can improve so that they have opportunities and successes beyond even yours.

Steve is a leadership coach. By using this book, you can feel that he’s beside you or inside your head offering you wise and timely counsel on how you can improve yourself. Being an effective leader sometimes requires third-party coaching where your coach observes and encourages you. But sometimes you are your own best coach. When you self-coach you become aware of what you can and should do to help your organization reach its goals through people and processes. This book offers a marvelous blueprint for self-coaching. The specific tools and tips can be quickly assimilated and eventually acted on so that you can become a better leader. These rules of leadership coupled with the process for learning and mastering the rules will help you move forward with more insight and confidence.

Dave Ulrich
Alpine, Utah
November 2009